The Dubai-it Award has opened nominations for its first edition from August 10 through September 10, 2026, inviting individuals, projects, companies, institutions, and entities that have worked and delivered according to the “Dubai-it” approach and philosophy to participate across the award’s various fields.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, had launched the “Dubai-it” initiative to embody Dubai’s philosophy of action and its development model based on achievement, hard work, and the determination to transform major ambitions into tangible accomplishments in record time.
The initiative aims to instill Dubai’s experience and approach to work in future generations, reinforce a culture of achievement across institutions and companies, and transform Dubai’s philosophy of execution and action into a sustainable institutional approach built on speed, excellence, and impact.
Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, the Dubai-it Award was launched as an annual award honoring those who have achieved according to Dubai’s philosophy of action and fulfilled the true meaning of “Dubai-it”: accomplishing something exceptional with excellence, distinction, and in record time.
The award targets everyone who has contributed to moving major ideas from ambition to tangible reality and turning visions into results the world can see, whether the achievement is associated with an individual, a project, an institution, or a company.
His Excellency Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Chairman of the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said that the Dubai-it Award draws its vision from the thinking of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, may God protect him, and from his exceptional leadership experience in transforming major ideas into exceptional achievements.
He added that the launch of the award by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum comes to establish the “Dubai-it” philosophy as a culture of work within institutions and companies, an approach for developing and completing projects with excellence, distinction, and speed, and a methodology on which Dubai can build its next development leaps.
He emphasized that the Dubai-it Award is the force that keeps Dubai’s philosophy of action alive, present, and renewed year after year, and that it serves as a platform of recognition that gives Dubai’s work philosophy a continuous presence and transforms it into an energy that drives individuals, projects, and institutions toward greater achievement, greater excellence, and more results worthy of Dubai.
He continued: “The Dubai-it Award was designed to drive people toward action and highlight those who lead, build, transform, and deliver. It makes Dubai-it a work culture and an approach people aspire to practice, and a standard they seek to embody in their work, projects, and institutions.”
He added that the first edition of the Dubai-it Award comes as a comprehensive season celebrating exceptional achievement and embodying the philosophy of a city that has believed since its earliest days that the future is not something to wait for, but something to create, and that the value of ideas lies in their ability to become achievements and results the world can see.
The award represents an annual cycle for identifying exceptional achievements across Dubai and celebrating projects, institutions, and individuals that create tangible impact in different areas of development and contribute through their work to supporting Dubai’s next major leaps forward.
The award is presented across three main categories: individuals, projects, and institutions and companies, recognizing models that have embodied the “Dubai-it” philosophy and achieved its meaning of exceptional accomplishment, excellence, distinction, and speed.
It celebrates individuals who led achievements, projects that created transformation, and companies and institutions that turned visions into real results and left an impact befitting Dubai’s position and reputation.
The award is held annually as part of an integrated cycle celebrating exceptional achievements from September through May. It aims to identify models that reflect Dubai’s philosophy of action and successfully transform ambitious ideas into tangible results with high quality and within a short period of time.
Throughout the annual cycle, the award highlights a number of strategic fields that reflect Dubai’s experience and development journey, while recognizing individuals who led achievements, projects that created transformation, and institutions and companies that successfully turned visions into reality with results people can see and experience.
June, July, and August are dedicated to receiving and evaluating nominations for the following cycle, supporting the award’s continuity as an annual platform for identifying achievements, documenting their impact, and raising the level of ambition across different sectors.
For its first edition specifically, nominations are being accepted from August 10 through September 10, making the annual cycle a key occasion for celebrating those behind exceptional achievements in Dubai and recognizing people who have worked with the spirit of the emirate and contributed another accomplishment to its record.
The award covers 10 main fields that reflect the diversity of Dubai’s development experience and its ability to turn visions into achievements. These include government, real estate, economic, commercial, technology, sports, social, education, services, and healthcare.
The award’s fields extend across the annual cycle, with each area receiving dedicated attention according to designated schedules, while individuals, projects, institutions, and companies that have achieved exceptional and high-quality results are recognized.
The award’s role goes beyond celebrating accomplishments. It also identifies transformations and those who lead them, while highlighting the way ambitious ideas are transformed into real results whose impact can be seen and felt across the city, economy, and society.
Nomination Evaluation Criteria
The nomination evaluation process is based on eight criteria derived from the official definition of the “Dubai-it” philosophy, covering different aspects of achievement, quality of execution, and impact.
Exceptional Achievement: This criterion measures how unique and significant an achievement is, the scale of the challenge involved, the level of ambition, the boldness of the idea, decision, or project, and its ability to create a qualitative shift beyond the ordinary.
Excellence and Quality of Execution: This criterion focuses on professionalism in planning and implementation, the quality of outputs, attention to detail, and commitment to the highest standards, based on the principle that the value of an achievement depends not only on the result but also on the quality of the path taken to reach it.
Speed of Achievement and Efficiency of Execution: This criterion measures the ability to turn an idea or vision into a tangible result in record time without compromising quality, in addition to the speed of decision-making, efficient management of resources, and reduction of delivery timelines.
Adoption of Dubai’s Philosophy of Action: This criterion focuses on how strongly the achievement reflects Dubai’s spirit, combining bold ambition, speed of action, flexibility in execution, a distinctive experience, and the ability to transform challenges into opportunities.
Turning Vision into Tangible Results: This criterion measures the ability of an achievement to translate an idea, vision, or ambition into clear practical reality supported by results that can be observed, measured, and verified.
Exceptional Impact: This criterion focuses on the scale of the impact created by the achievement on people, the city, a sector, the economy, quality of life, or Dubai’s reputation and standing, as well as the value and genuine transformation it produced.
Sustainability and Scalability: This criterion measures an achievement’s ability to continue, grow, expand, and develop, as well as the extent to which it has established new pathways that can be built upon in the future.
Clarity of the Model and Its Inspirational Role: This criterion focuses on an achievement’s ability to become a role model and a success story that inspires others, raises the level of ambition, and encourages individuals, institutions, and projects to work with the spirit of Dubai.
The award receives nominations through the approved nomination form on its digital platform, ensuring that information is documented, requirements are completed, and all submissions are reviewed through a unified and transparent process.
Scope of Nominations
Nominations are open to all individuals, projects, companies, institutions, and entities that have embodied the “Dubai-it” philosophy through their work and achievements.
For the first edition, nominations include achievements, projects, initiatives, and transformations completed during the past four years, allowing the inaugural edition to identify some of the strongest examples that have reflected Dubai’s philosophy of action during that period.
Starting with the second edition and beyond, nominations will include achievements completed within the most recent 24 months of each award cycle, helping maintain the award’s focus on recent accomplishments that have produced clear results.
Individuals may nominate themselves directly, while their companies, institutions, or affiliated entities may also nominate them.
Companies, institutions, and other entities may also nominate themselves, their projects, their teams, or individuals who played a pivotal role in leading an achievement and delivering its results.
The award is built on the principles of openness, inclusivity, and ambition, honoring those who have led, built, executed, and transformed ideas into results worthy of Dubai’s name and standing.
The fundamental measure remains the extent to which an achievement reflects the spirit of “Dubai-it,” based on bold ambition, precise execution, exceptional quality, speed of delivery, and tangible impact.
Nomination Process
The Dubai-it Award allows everyone to nominate individuals, projects, institutions, and companies that have embodied the “Dubai-it” philosophy through their work and achievements.
Individuals, institutions, and companies may nominate themselves or others while specifying the field under which the achievement falls through the award’s digital platform at:
The award team also monitors notable achievements throughout the year and identifies models that reflect Dubai’s philosophy of execution and its ability to transform ambitious ideas into real-world results.
This process is designed to ensure that the award remains an open platform for discovering achievers, documenting their impact, and celebrating individuals and entities that make a meaningful difference in Dubai.
Nomination Requirements
Applying for the award requires submitting a comprehensive file through its digital platform, explaining the nature of the nominated achievement, its objectives, its field of work, and the category under which it falls, whether the nominee is an individual, institution, or project, while also outlining the nominee’s role in delivering the achievement.
The file must include a clear explanation of the achievement, the challenge or opportunity from which it originated, the stages and steps of implementation, the results achieved, and the impact it created on people, the city, the sector, the institution, the economy, or quality of life.
Supporting evidence and data must also be attached to the nomination, including performance indicators, figures, reports, photographs, media materials, testimonials, and other documents that demonstrate the scale of the achievement, the quality of its execution, the speed of delivery, and its actual impact.
All nominations undergo a detailed review to verify the completeness of the information, the credibility of the evidence, and the clarity of the results. The review process may also include meetings with nominees or entities associated with the achievement, as well as requests for additional documents or information when required.
